IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/energy/v330y2025ics0360544225024375.html

An energy harvesting floating slab track for self-powered monitoring sensors in urban rail transit systems

Author

Listed:
  • Liu, Yunfeng
  • Wang, Yuan
  • Gao, Yanyan
  • Zhang, Kai
  • Zhang, Yiyan
  • Li, Hao
  • Qi, Lingfei

Abstract

Providing long-term uninterrupted power supply for structural health monitoring sensors embedded in floating plate tracks is still a challenging problem. Therefore, this study develops a novel energy harvesting device incorporating a double ratchet-pawl structure. The structure of the proposed system contains four units: motion transformation unit (MTU), speed amplification unit (SAU), energy transformation unit (ETU), and energy storage unit (ESU). The series-connected configuration of four units transforms floating slab kinetic energy into electricity, which is then capacitor-stored to energize sensing modules. The developed vibration energy harvester (VEH) achieves a peak damping force of 104.4 N in experimental validation. Under 3.5 mm and 2.5 Hz excitation, the system achieves 0.66 W peak power output at optimal loads. The DC steady-state voltage of the proposed system reaches several volts, while the output power is on the order of mW. It has sufficient potential to power structural health monitoring sensors embedded in floating plate tracks.

Suggested Citation

  • Liu, Yunfeng & Wang, Yuan & Gao, Yanyan & Zhang, Kai & Zhang, Yiyan & Li, Hao & Qi, Lingfei, 2025. "An energy harvesting floating slab track for self-powered monitoring sensors in urban rail transit systems," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 330(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:330:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225024375
    DOI: 10.1016/j.energy.2025.136795
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0360544225024375
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.energy.2025.136795?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to

    for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Wang, Hu & Zhao, Qingling & Song, Rujun & Guo, Junlong & Chang, Wenyan & Yang, Xiaohui & Zhang, Leian, 2025. "Design and performance study of low frequency magnetic coupling bistable piezoelectric and electromagnetic energy harvester," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 320(C).
    2. Abdelkareem, Mohamed A.A. & Zhang, Ran & Jing, Xingjian & Wang, Xu & Ali, Mohamed Kamal Ahmed, 2022. "Characterization and implementation of a double-sided arm-toothed indirect-drive rotary electromagnetic energy-harvesting shock absorber in a full semi-trailer truck suspension platform," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 239(PA).
    3. Alqaleiby, Hossam & Ayyad, Mahmoud & Hajj, Muhammad R. & Ragab, Saad A. & Zuo, Lei, 2024. "Effects of piezoelectric energy harvesting from a morphing flapping tail on its performance," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 353(PA).
    4. Pan, Yu & Lin, Teng & Qian, Feng & Liu, Cheng & Yu, Jie & Zuo, Jianyong & Zuo, Lei, 2019. "Modeling and field-test of a compact electromagnetic energy harvester for railroad transportation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 247(C), pages 309-321.
    5. Qi, Lingfei & Li, Hai & Wu, Xiaoping & Zhang, Zutao & Duan, Wenjun & Yi, Minyi, 2021. "A hybrid piezoelectric-electromagnetic wave energy harvester based on capsule structure for self-powered applications in sea-crossing bridges," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 178(C), pages 1223-1235.
    6. Fan, Chengliang & Li, Hai & Zhang, Zutao & Pan, Yajia & Wu, Xiaoping & Ahmed, Ammar, 2023. "An H-shaped coupler energy harvester for application in heavy railways," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 270(C).
    7. Pan, Yu & Zuo, Lei & Ahmadian, Mehdi, 2022. "A half-wave electromagnetic energy-harvesting tie towards safe and intelligent rail transportation," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 313(C).
    8. Wang, Suo & Miao, Gang & Zhou, Shengxi & Yang, Zhichun & Yurchenko, Daniil, 2022. "A novel electromagnetic energy harvester based on the bending of the sole," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    9. Kurt, Erol & Issimova, Aigerim & Medetov, Bekbolat, 2023. "A wide-band electromagnetic energy harvester," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 277(C).
    10. Fang, Zheng & Tan, Xing & Liu, Genshuo & Zhou, Zijie & Pan, Yajia & Ahmed, Ammar & Zhang, Zutao, 2022. "A novel vibration energy harvesting system integrated with an inertial pendulum for zero-energy sensor applications in freight trains," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    11. Pu, Hua-Yan & Liu, Jun & Wang, Min & Ding, Ji-Heng & Peng, Yan & Luo, Jun & Sun, Yi, 2024. "Ultra-low frequency and small-amplitude electromagnetic vibration energy harvester considering rotary multi-magnetic-electrical-mechanical coupling," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 375(C).
    12. Pan, Yu & Liu, Fengwei & Jiang, Ruijin & Tu, Zhiwen & Zuo, Lei, 2019. "Modeling and onboard test of an electromagnetic energy harvester for railway cars," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 568-581.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Zhong, Lingyuxiu & Liu, Ruihang & Sun, Yanchang & Duan, Derong & Lin, Xiujuan & Wang, Peng & Gao, Changqing & Zhang, Hui, 2025. "A flexible piezoelectric film for fluid energy harvesting using wake-induced vibration," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).
    2. Zong, Rui & Wang, Jianjun & Sheng, Weiqiang & Xiang, Hongjun & Liang, Junrui & Lan, Chengming, 2025. "Realization of a LoRa-based piezoelectric self-powered wireless monitoring system for steel spring floating slab tracks," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 340(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Qi, Lingfei & Song, Juhuang & Wang, Yuan & Yi, Minyi & Zhang, Zutao & Yan, Jinyue, 2024. "Mechanical motion rectification-based electromagnetic vibration energy harvesting technology: A review," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 289(C).
    2. Zuo, Jianyong & Dong, Liwei & Yang, Fan & Guo, Ziheng & Wang, Tianpeng & Zuo, Lei, 2023. "Energy harvesting solutions for railway transportation: A comprehensive review," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 202(C), pages 56-87.
    3. Wang, Zhixia & Du, Hongzhi & Wang, Wei & Zhang, Qichang & Gu, Fengshou & Ball, Andrew D. & Liu, Cheng & Jiao, Xuanbo & Qiu, Hongyun & Shi, Dawei, 2024. "A high performance contra-rotating energy harvester and its wireless sensing application toward green and maintain free vehicle monitoring," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 356(C).
    4. Liu, Mengzhou & Zhang, Yuan & Fu, Hailing & Qin, Yong & Ding, Ao & Yeatman, Eric M., 2023. "A seesaw-inspired bistable energy harvester with adjustable potential wells for self-powered internet of train monitoring," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 337(C).
    5. Zhou, Xu & Wang, Kangda & Li, Siyu & Wang, Yadong & Sun, Daoyu & Wang, Longlong & He, Zhizhu & Tang, Wei & Liu, Huicong & Jin, Xiaoping & Li, Zhen, 2024. "An ultra-compact lightweight electromagnetic generator enhanced with Halbach magnet array and printed triphase windings," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 353(PA).
    6. Zhang, Baifu & Zhao, Zhen & Li, Yongxin & Zhang, Xiaohui & Li, Xinjun & Hao, Daning & Zhang, Zutao, 2025. "Design and analysis of a piezoelectric energy harvesting shock absorber for light truck applications," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 377(PB).
    7. Fang, Zheng & Tan, Xing & Liu, Genshuo & Zhou, Zijie & Pan, Yajia & Ahmed, Ammar & Zhang, Zutao, 2022. "A novel vibration energy harvesting system integrated with an inertial pendulum for zero-energy sensor applications in freight trains," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    8. Dai, Xiaolong & Wu, Nan & He, Yuncheng & Zeng, Xianming & Liang, Yujia & Xu, Chao, 2025. "A bistable wave energy harvester with orientation adaptive characteristics actuated by a rotating driving magnet," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 251(C).
    9. Zou, Hong-Xiang & Qin, Nan & Gan, Chong-Zao & Chen, Ze-Wen & Zhao, Lin-Chuan & Gao, Qiu-Hua & Wei, Ke-Xiang & Meng, Guang & Bai, Quan, 2025. "Human-friendly biomechanical energy harvesting vest for self-powered disability assistance functions," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 330(C).
    10. Azam, Ali & Ahmed, Ammar & Kamran, Muhammad Sajid & Hai, Li & Zhang, Zutao & Ali, Asif, 2021. "Knowledge structuring for enhancing mechanical energy harvesting (MEH): An in-depth review from 2000 to 2020 using CiteSpace," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 150(C).
    11. Li, Shiying & Xu, Jun & Gao, Haonan & Tao, Tao & Mei, Xuesong, 2020. "Safety probability based multi-objective optimization of energy-harvesting suspension system," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 209(C).
    12. Kong, Weihua & He, Liujin & Hao, Daning & Wu, Xiaoping & Xiao, Luo & Zhang, Zutao & Xu, Yongsheng & Azam, Ali, 2023. "A wave energy harvester based on an ultra-low frequency synergistic PTO for intelligent fisheries," Renewable Energy, Elsevier, vol. 217(C).
    13. Zhang, Ziye & Chen, Hao & Sun, Fengyu & Ma, Yanlei & Ji, Zhenhua & Zhang, Wenbo, 2025. "Technologies for high-entropy energy harvesting and utilization along transport infrastructures," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 223(C).
    14. Pan, Hongye & Qi, Lingfei & Zhang, Zutao & Yan, Jinyue, 2021. "Kinetic energy harvesting technologies for applications in land transportation: A comprehensive review," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 286(C).
    15. Ma, Liyi & Xu, Shilei & Wang, Zhipeng & Jia, Limin & Qin, Yong & Li, Xiuhan & Tang, Hao & Wang, Yongbin & Chen, Kebei & Chen, Shukai, 2025. "Energy self-contained freight train monitoring system with cooperative wind and vibration energy harvesting," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 333(C).
    16. Ruichen Wang & Paul Allen & Yang Song & Zhiwei Wang, 2022. "Modelling and Analysis of Power-Regenerating Potential for High-Speed Train Suspensions," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(5), pages 1-22, February.
    17. Gao, Mingyuan & Cong, Jianli & Xiao, Jieling & He, Qing & Li, Shoutai & Wang, Yuan & Yao, Ye & Chen, Rong & Wang, Ping, 2020. "Dynamic modeling and experimental investigation of self-powered sensor nodes for freight rail transport," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 257(C).
    18. Zhang, Tingsheng & Kong, Lingji & Zhu, Zhongyin & Wu, Xiaoping & Li, Hai & Zhang, Zutao & Yan, Jinyue, 2024. "An electromagnetic vibration energy harvesting system based on series coupling input mechanism for freight railroads," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 353(PA).
    19. Bogdan Dziadak & Mariusz Kucharek & Jacek Starzyński, 2022. "Powering the WSN Node for Monitoring Rail Car Parameters, Using a Piezoelectric Energy Harvester," Energies, MDPI, vol. 15(5), pages 1-18, February.
    20. Pan, Yu & Liu, Fengwei & Jiang, Ruijin & Tu, Zhiwen & Zuo, Lei, 2019. "Modeling and onboard test of an electromagnetic energy harvester for railway cars," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 250(C), pages 568-581.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:energy:v:330:y:2025:i:c:s0360544225024375. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.journals.elsevier.com/energy .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.